


One More Christmas Wouldn't Hurt

by smallstarfox



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Cute, Family Feels, Flashbacks, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Prompt Fic, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, Surprises, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 14:41:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21650017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smallstarfox/pseuds/smallstarfox
Summary: The Doctor sends her fam home for the holidays in order to avoid the chaos she thinks is coming. But what happens when she gets a distressed message from them?
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor & Graham O'Brien, Thirteenth Doctor & Ryan Sinclair, Thirteenth Doctor & Yasmin Khan
Comments: 4
Kudos: 54





	One More Christmas Wouldn't Hurt

**Author's Note:**

> I meant to most this yesterday but what is linear time in the who-fandom?  
Short little christmas thing I was going to put for a fanzine, but everyone gets to see it now instead~  
(Hence the short word count)
> 
> Either way I still hope you enjoy it regardless  
Unless the trailer hype has killed you all off, which is entirely fair tbh.

“Right then fam, see you in a couple of weeks. Don’t wait up for me, Ill be on time, promise.”

It had been agreed, many weeks prior to the occasion, that the Doctor would send her companions home for the winter festivities. Both Ryan and Graham were looking forward to a bit more family focused time together, even going so far as to invite Ryan’s less-estranged father over. Just to smooth things over. There was still doubt in his mind about the whole affair, but Ryan was more than content to continue being civil, for the sake of Grace.

Graham had many plans for the two weeks, some of which included catching up with old colleagues he had been neglecting since grieving. Wrapped up in thick coats and hats, the two of them cheerfully left the TARDIS, nattering on about what to cook for the big day. As the doors of the TARDIS softly closed behind them, the Doctor began plotting the course for Yaz’s block of flats.

“I can walk from here you know, Doctor. I know you said that the TARDIS doesn’t like to do short hops.”

“Ah, she’s fine. Aren’t you old girl? She likes you, remember? Her idea, not mine.”

With her back pressed into the console, Yaz slid her hands into her leather gloves, quickly bracing for impact as the TARDIS began to jostle and groan. The Doctor, as usual, merely danced around the controls until the ship came to a shaking stop. A hit of cold air came through the TARDIS as the doors opened out onto her estate, sending a shiver down her spine. Yaz pulled her scarf closer to her chin, turning to watch the Doctor skip to the doors and poke her head outside.

“Still snowing. Wonder if you lot will end up with a white Christmas again? Always seems to happen when I…”

Her words trailed off into small plumes of warm air, shoulders slumping for a moment before the Time Lord’s usual energy resumed. Ever since New Year’s, with the Dalek, Yaz had wanted to question the Doctor. Ask her about them, about herself, about why she avoided the subject of winter festivities so vehemently. She never did, words always caught in her throat or attention divided elsewhere. With the boys already gone, and a clear change in atmosphere around the Time Lord, it was more than the perfect time. Taking in a quiet breath, Yaz came to rest against the opposite doorframe, turning her eyes to the outside world.

“Can’t remember the last time we didn’t have a white Christmas. Not that we celebrate the holiday, but you know. We do our own thing. It’s beautiful, really. Dad cooks up an absolute storm, mum will go out to see my Nani and bring her over with the most wonderful cakes and sweets. Me and Sonya often argue about what movie to put on, but we always give each other a little something. She got me a photo frame last year, put a picture of my first day in uniform in there. I’ll probably get her that jewellery box she’s had her eye on.”

Her eyes turned towards the Doctor, catching her staring briefly, before her eyes darted outside. She seemed entirely too fixated on the falling snow, but a smile tugged at her lips.

“Sounds really nice. Really, really nice. Glad I could get you back on time for that. Then again, I think the boys would’ve killed me if I hadn’t. Only so much of the universe I can show you lot before you end up drawn back here.”

  
There was something in the tone of the Doctor’s voice that Yaz could not quite place; yearning? Regret? Apathy? Whatever it was, it was enough of a cue for her to keep going.

“It’s not just us, with our homes and responsibilities, that get drawn back here…is it Doctor?”

She turned to face the Time Lord, watched as several expressions played across her eyes. As she began to wonder if she had overstepped an unspoken mark, the Doctor turned towards her. The same confusing emotion now rested on her face, masked by a false smile and cheery tone.

“Ah, look at that sun going down. Best be off before your mum questions me again about you being late. Really nice woman, would rather not get in her bad books again anytime soon.”

With a sinking feeling in her stomach, Yaz stepped out into the flurry of snow, turning back to see the Doctor still lingering in the doorway. There was only one other thing she could think of trying, to get the Time Lord to open up about whatever was on her mind.

“Wanna come in for some tea before you go?”

For a moment, she thought she had won, victory within her grasps.  
And then…it vanished.

“No can do, sorry Yaz. Gotta go get the old girl charged up at the rift while I can. I’ll be back before you know it though!”

Coat tails twisting behind her, the Doctor closed the TARDIS doors with a snap of her fingers, leaving Yaz to watch the police box disappear into the ether. As she made her way towards the rows of flats, she started to think up the basis for a scheme; bringing the Doctor in for the festivities.

* * *

Unbeknownst to the rest of her fam, the Doctor paused in her task of simply skipping ahead the allotted two weeks in order to see them again. Something she had done on several occasions. It had been a lie, that the TARDIS needed to refuel, and it hurt saying it to Yaz. However, various feelings she had thought were long since buried were beginning to stir, and it was best for everyone if she simply moved past them. Curling her arms around her knees, she sat with her head resting against the lower part of the console, staring out into the void of the empty room. As the TARDIS reached out to her, offering comfort and care, she could feel tears prickling the corners of her eyes.

Memories resurfacing.

Christmas was not her favourite time of year. Not anymore. Whereas her old selves used to relish in the festivities and Earth customs, the regenerations before her new cycle had had more than their fair share of difficulties. Christmas was a beacon for trouble. A time not of celebration and love, but of chaos and death. So many things had gone wrong as soon as the word was mentioned around her. Around him. New Years, her once safe bet, had become a battle of wills against her most hated foe…and almost cost more lives in the process. People were scarred, emotionally and sometimes physically, when they were around. She would not allow herself to get close, to compromise her fam. Not again. In her eyes, they were better off without her, just like she was better off with the ghosts of her past and the company of one.

“Did…Did I do the right thing? Was it right to lie?”

The TARDIS offered sympathetic beeps and warmth in her mind.

“Maybe it would’ve been better to tell them…but what if it backfired? I’m not supposed to be here, being here just causes trouble. I should’ve learnt my lesson last time but…”

With a shaky breath and one hand pulling a sleeve to wipe at her eyes, the Doctor pressed her head into her knees.

“Yaz’s right…I keep being drawn back here, again and again. I love this stupid, beautiful rock. I love those stupid, brilliant humans. I love my stupid, amazing, hearts-warming fam. I love it all so, so much…but I wish I could do more for it. Maybe if I hadn’t’ve fallen in love with it, Earth would be safer. Perhaps I’m the reason it attracts so much attention. My presence is what draws all the pain and the suffering and the darkness…And I just…”

Something shifted in the TARDIS, lights brightening for a moment before returning to their muted warm glow. Lifting her head up with a sniffle, the Doctor felt the console vibrate slightly behind her head. Dragging herself onto her feet, she was greeted with a fuzzy display screen and blinking words. It took a few seconds for her gaze to refocus, tears drying, before she felt her mouth drop.

_‘Help’_

Fingers became a blur as the Doctor worked on triangulating the signal and figuring out the source of the message. Her hearts skipped when another screen came up.

“Yaz…”

The message was from Yaz. From her phone. According to the TARDIS’ readings, she was in Graham’s house. She threw her hands up in anger as the date of the message clicked in her mind.

“Of course it had to be that day. Of course it did! It’s always that stupid, infuriating, nonsense, blasted…”

With curses flying in several unknown languages, the Doctor set the TARDIS into motion, only the vaguest hint of a thought taken to be mindful of the fact she was about to land in Graham’s living room. Again. Luckily for her, it seemed as if her arrival had been anticipated, though her eyes did not catch on to the suspiciously accommodating furniture as she burst through the doors. Sonic in hand, buzzing away into the room, eyes wide as she stared into an empty room. No fam, not a glimpse, but something much too delicious lingering in the air.

Her arm dropped, the buzz of the sonic screwdriver fading away, as she looked around the room. As expected, the boys had been busy; a fully decorated Christmas tree, presents scattered around the room, a fully set table with candles burning, tinsel and little trinkets across any and all available surfaces. Having had her moment of distraction, the Doctor made a move towards the hallway, jumping in fright at the sudden voices cracking through the silence.

“**MERRY CHRISTMAS DOCTOR!**”

Fumbling with the sonic in her hands and trying to pocket it inside her coat, the Doctor twisted around at breakneck speed, coming face to face with her fam. Who had somehow appeared from the kitchen. Possibly. She had no idea, her hearts were hammering too hard and her mind was firing on all cylinders.

All three of them were dressed in different coloured party hats; Graham in green, Yaz in blue, and Ryan in gold. They were all also wearing various novelty Christmas jumpers and lounge bottoms, hands clinging to a homemade Christmas banner. She just about caught sight of a TARDIS in one corner, before logic kicked in.

“What? Where did you lot…Look, never mind that. I got the message, came here as fast as I could. Wasn’t too hard really, but…where’s the danger? I thought there was danger. There’s supposed to be danger. That’s what you said, right? You asked for help! Are the Sycorax back? Dream crabs? Daleks? Cybermen? Is it Missy? No…can’t be right…doesn’t feel right. Look. Stop me if I get it, because there’s a lot of things that could be the problem here, way more than I can run off right now.”

Fear flashed through the Doctor’s eyes as she turned back towards the TARDIS and pushed against the door. Nothing. Panic flaring again, she pulled at the handle several times before resorting to pushing against the doors with her shoulder.

“Come on. Let me in…let me in! Don’t be like this. Not now. I can’t be here! We talked about this! Don’t make me start using actual force. Please. There’s still time for me to go before-”

At the feeling of a hand on her shoulder, the Doctor jumped, back pressed into the faux wood of the TARDIS door. Yaz stood in front of her, somehow having broken away from Ryan and Graham whilst she had been lost to begging her ship to take her away again. She slouched slightly as another hand came to rest on her opposite shoulder, eyes falling to the wayside, unable to look at anyone.

“Doctor…there’s no danger.”

That perked the Time Lord up.

“What?!”

There was the distinct sound of paper dropping to the floor, before the Doctor caught sight of someone standing to her left side. She lifted her head up, met with the soft smile of Graham.

“Nothing’s wrong. Promise. Thought the TARDIS always gives you a little bell when there’s something really the matter.”

“I-”

He wasn’t wrong. The TARDIS was very good at giving her every context across time and space, for every eventuality. Quickly thinking back on it, the whole scenario was rather…staged.

“Didn’t mean t’make you jump like that. Probably shoulda thought this out a bit more.”

“Thought what out?”

She turned her head to the right, catching sight of Ryan rubbing the back of his neck, before she turned her attention back towards Yaz. She felt her gently squeezing her shoulders, a wordless apology.

  
“Doctor, it’s my fault. You haven’t been yourself lately, like…you retreated in on yourself. Every time one of us mentioned the holidays, you just kinda…stopped being yourself. You turned down coming to mine for tea! You’ve never done that.”

“Okay…and?”

“I know this isn’t something my family celebrates, I don’t know what I’m doing. So, I asked Ryan and Graham for help. Told them I was worried about you. So we came up with an admittedly rather rubbish plan…a plan to get you to spend Christmas here. With us. Because honestly, Doctor, you deserve it. Considering you just blurted out the names of…I don’t know how many things alongside the Daleks, things which put you on edge, I think it’d be good for you to sit down and enjoy yourself.”

Hazel-green eyes flitted between her three companions, the Doctor finally getting a handle on her racing hearts. She hear their sincerity, feel their compassion and understanding. Their faces were soft and full of love. Love for each other. But, also, for her too. Founded though her fears were, something she was no doubt going to have to explain over the course of the evening, Yaz was right. She was often, if not always, right. She had been running away again. Running away from her problems and her fears. Running away from her companions. Her family. Her home.

_‘They’re right, Doctor. You should listen to them. They have nothing but your best interests at heart, just like I do. The universe can survive for one night. I promise.’_

Comforting words, spoken from the TARDIS, lodged themselves into her mind. Pushing herself away from the doors, the Doctor smiled as Ryan and Graham moved either side of Yaz and placed one hand on top of the ones against her shoulders. Breaking into a wide grin, she relaxed.

“My fam. My wonderful, brilliant fam. You’re right, you know. Maybe one more Christmas wouldn’t hurt after all.”

That evening, under the warm glow of candles and fairy lights, the Doctor opened up. She spoke slowly, at first, allowing her companions the time to ease her into the moment. Each question lead her to talk about the times she had spent on Earth, of all the disasters she had thwarted with her friends. She spoke of Rose, of Donna, of River, and the families she had loved and had to leave behind. While her soul ached, her mind was at ease and her hearts full. Full of love, reverence, remembrance, and a considerable amount of Graham’s stellar cooking. The TARDIS hummed in the background, ever present, making sure that nothing would dissolve her thief’s moment of much deserved peace.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi to me on twitter or tumblr!  
TheRainbowFox13 - twitter / the-rainbow-fox-13 - tumblr


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